A little context on Nike's unseating of adidas as outfitter of the French national soccer team:

The soccer/rugby market in France is about $525 million in 2006, according to market research firm NPD Group. That includes footwear, apparel and equipment.

By comparison, sales in Germany totaled $1.24 billion and in the U.K. they totalled $2.12 billion.

The United States ranked as the largest market by country in the world with $2.27 billion in sales in 2006.

NPD Group does not break out rugby and soccer sales, but rugby sales make up only about 10 percent of the figures in Germany and France and nearly 0% in the U.K. and U.S., said Renaud Vaschalde, and NPD sports industry analyst.